Snow-cutter.



M. PELTIBR.

SNOW CUTTER.

APPLIOATION IILED NOV. 10, 1913.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

Witnesses Inventor THE NORRIS PETERS CO.. FHOTO-LITHO" WASHINGTON. D. l

Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

M. PELTIER.

SNOW CUTTER. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1913.

1,126,556 1. Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

S SEEETS-SB'EET 2.

THE NORRIS PETERS CCL. PHOTO-LITHOU WASHING I'ON D. C.

M. PELTIER.

SNOW CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10, 1913..

1,126,561, Patented Jan.26, 1915.

3 SHEEIS-SHBET 3.

l H ll ll Ii II I] II Hill 1] II II II 3/ l l 2 l 4 l 2 T/Vi'tnesaes Inventor THE NORRIS PEYFRS 60., H4070 I ITHQ. WASHING/0N. D C.

roof being removed,

some places MITCHELL PELTIER, OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

SNOW-CUTTER.

nieasei.

Application filed November 10, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MITCHELL PELTIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King, State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Snow-Cutters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for handling snow in clearing railroad tracks and consists in a device for widening cuts through snow banks.

The object of my invention is to provide an apparatus which may be mounted upon a car and which will take a slice from either or both sides of a cut made through a snow bank by a rotary snow plow and thus provide a safe clearance, especially on curves, for the passage of long passenger cars without danger of rubbing their sides against the snow banks, and also for the safety and convenience of the employees.

That of which my invention particularly consists may be understood by an inspection of the claims.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention in the form now preferred by me; there are, however, many modifications of construction which may be adopted as a substitute for details of my apparatus, as herein shown and described, without departing materially from the spirit of my invention.

Figure l is a side elevation of a car having my device mounted thereon. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the rear end of a car, the showing the construe tion of my device. Fig. 3 is an end view of the same, taken from the rear.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

My device would not be needed in localities where the snow fall is of moderate depth, but would be of great value where the snow fall becomes of much depth, whether due to excessive fall or to drifting, or to slides. Where heavy snow-falls are likely to be met, the railroads are equipped with rotary snow plows that are capable of cutting their way through'slides and drifts on the tracks, which are as high as, or higher than, the cars. Such depths of snow are often found .in mountain sections and in are to be expected regularly every winter, and are a menace to comfortable and safe railroad trafiic.

The width of a channel out by a rotary Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1915. Serial No. 800,084.

snow plow is only suflicient to permit the passage of standard equipment on a track that is straight or has easy curves, and is not wide enough to afford a safe margin for long passenger coaches which are liable to be in those mountainous districts where the heaviest snow fall occurs; nor is such a cut of sufficient width to allow a person walking therethrough to pass along the outside of train if one should be met; nor to permit a railroad employee to pass along the outside of a train, as is frequently necessary when trains are delayed by snow. Consequently, it has been the common practice to follow up a rotary snow plow with a crew of men to widen the cut by hand shovels, but this is slow and expensive work. It also happens, where the depth of snow is excessive and the ground slopes are steep, that the upper sides will advance toward the track by a slow movement, thus necessitating the removal of a slice from their face. It is to meet the conditions aforesaid, and others that might be named, that my device has been designed.

In the construction of my device, I provide a type of car that is heavy and well braced, and upon thisl mount two cutting blades or scrapers, as 1, which have their cutting edges extending in a substantially vertical direction, and are movable toward and from the center of the track, so that they may be projected well beyond the side of the car or be drawn in close to the side thereof. These cutters or scrapers are located at or rearward of the rear end of the car, with their cutting edges 10 facing forward, and having curved, rearwardly extending plates 11, which throw the cut-away snow toward and upon the track, from where it is removed by a following rotary snow plow.

The foregoing outlines the broad features of my invention and the manner of its use. The preferred means for doing this, as here in illustrated, consist of the following mechanism:

The snow cutting members, 1, are mounted upon the ends of beams 2 which are piyotally secured by their front ends 20, within the car well forward of its rear end. These pivots permit swinging the beams horizontally to control the projection and withdrawal of the cutting members. The rear ends of these beams are curved outward, thus retaining the main body of the beams within the car and avoiding any necessity for forcing any part of the beam through the uncut snow. This beam is preferably a heavy wooden beam with a heavy iron plate at top and bottom, the latter alone forming the curves 21 and preferably dividing, as in dicated in Fig. 3, to form separated points of connection with the scrapers 1.

The beams 2 are preferably connected. to the scrapers near their forward or cutting edge, 10, by pivots 13, and independent means are employed for supporting the rear edges of the scrapers and for controlling their angular position. The means shown consist of rack bars 3 which are pivoted toward the rear edges of plates 11 at l i and mesh with gears carried by shafts 32, which are supported by and journaled in a rearwardly extending frame formed by heavy beams 4 which are placed at the floor and roof of the car, and are connected at their rearmost ends by posts e0.

The beams 2 are controlled in position, similarly, by rack bars 33 which engage gears 3-]: carried by shafts 35. These rack bars are connected with the beams 2 in such manner as will accommodate the slight angular changes which occur in moving the beams between their extreme positions. have shown the bar as having its ends as reduced at 36 and passing loosely between cars 22 carried by the beam. Any suitable form of connection may be employed at this point.

To accommodate the rocking of the rack bars where they engage with the gears, I have provided stirrups, 30, which pivot upon the shafts upon which the gears are secured, and embrace the rack bars. These hold the rack bars in proper engagement with the gears and accommodate any swinging movement which occurs.

The means which may be used to turn the gear shafts 32 and 35 are numerous. 1 prefer to use compressed air as the motive agent, although the manner of its application may be widely varied. The manner shown consists in securing to each shaft a wheel or drum 31, to which is secured a rope or chain 5, the opposite ends of which lead through suitable guides to opposite connection with the piston rod 60 of air cylinders 6. These may be located and connected up in any suitable manner. By this, or by equivalent means, the position of the beams 2 with their attached cutting members 1 and the angle at which the latter are carried, may be controlled at will. They may be forced out, or to the position shown in Fig. 2, or drawn in until they fall within the side lines of the car body.

I prefer that at least the forward set 35 of the controlling shafts be provided with means whereby they may be locked readily in any adjusted position, when desired.

This may be done by maln'ng the shafts 35 square in cross section and providing a wrenclvlike" bar 7 having jaws which will embrace the square section of the shaft, and securing this bar against turning, as by pivoting its outer end, as at 70, so that it may be turned up and out of engagement with the shaft. I also prefer to have the shafts, 32 and 35, extend through and above the roof of the car so that they may be engaged by a crank arm to operate them by hand from this point.

I have shown the beams 2 as being supported and moving upon rollers 8, which provision decreases the power required for this purpose.

The scrapers or cutters are preferably provided with a horizontal wing 12 at their lower end, which cleanly severs the packed snow at this point. The bracing of the car should be strong to resist the heavy strains to which it would be subjected. As the particular type of bracing of the car employed is not necessarily a part of my invention, I will not go into this in detail. I do, however, consider it highly desirable that the car construction should include the heavy central beams 4-, both at the sill line and in the roof.

I claim as my invention 1. A device for enlarging the width of a cut through snow, comprising a car, beams pivotally supported by their forward ends from the car, and with their rear or swinging end projecting from the rear end of the car, vertically extending cutting knives secured to the rear ends of said beams and adapted to cut away the side walls of the out and to move the cut-away material-inward upon the track.

2. A device for enlarging the width of a cut through snow, comprising a car having a frame projecting centrally from the rear end of the car, beams pivoted within the car at top and bottom and projecting from the rear end of the car, side cutting blades carried by the rear ends of said beams, and means supported from the projecting central frame to control the lateral position of the beams and the cutting blades carried thereby.

3. A device for enlarging cuts through snow comprising a car, beams extending lengthwise the car and pivoted by their front ends to the car to swing horizontally and with their rear ends projecting from the rear end of the car, snow cutting blades carried by the rear or swinging ends of said beams, rack bars each connected by one end with one of said beams and extending transversely of the car, gears, each meshing with its respective rack bar, and means for turning said gears.

4:. A device for enlarging cuts through snow comprising a car, beams pivoted by their forward end to'the car at top and bottom thereof and to swing horizontally, the rear ends of said beams projecting from the rear end of the car, laterally extending arms projecting outwardly from the rear ends of said beams, a snow-cutting blade pivoted to the outer ends of said arms, means for controlling the angular position of said blades, and means for swinging the beams to move said cutting blades outward and inward.

5. A device for enlarging railroad cuts made through snow, comprising a car, beams pivoted by their front ends to the car to swing horizontally and having their rear ends projecting from the rear end of the car, a cutting blade or scoop at each side of the car secured to the rear ends of said beams, a transversely extending rack bar for each of said swinging beams secured by an end, each to its respective beam, a gear meshing with each of said rack bars, and power means for turning said gears.

6. A. devicefor enlarging railroad cuts made through snow, comprising a car, beams pivoted by their front ends to the car to swing horizontally and having their rear ends projecting from the rear end of the car, a cutting blade or scoop at each side of the car secured to the rear ends of said beams, a transversely extending rack bar for each of said swinging beams secured by an end, each to its respective beam, a gear meshing with each of said rack bars, power means for turning said gears, and means for locking said parts in adjusted position.

7. A device for enlarging railroad cuts made through snow, comprising a car having a centrally placed vertical frame projecting rearwardly therefrom, a pair of beams for each side the car extending lengthwise the car and pivoted by their forward ends to swing horizontally, the beams of a pair being separated vertically, a pair of arms extending laterally and outwardly from the rear end of each beam and to the rear of the car body, said arms diverging to separate their outer ends, vertical cutting blades or scrapers secured to the outer ends of said arms, and means connecting said beams and the central frame for swinging said beams.

8. A device for enlarging railroad cuts made through snow, comprising a car having a centrally placed vertical frame projecting rearwardly therefrom, a pair of beams for each side the car extending lengthwise the car and pivoted by their forward ends to swing horizontally, the beams of a pair being separated vertically, a pair of arms extending laterally and outwardly from the rear end of each beam and to the rear of the car body, said arms diverging to separate their outer ends, a vertically cutting blade or scraper pivotally secured toward its forward or cutting edge to the outer ends of each pair of said arms, bars pivotally secured to the rearward part of said cutting blades and extending to the central frame, bars secured to the swinging beams and extending to the central frame, and means carried by the central frame and acting upon both sets of bars to move them transversely of the car.

9. A device for widening cuts through snow, comprising a car, beams extending lengthwise the car and pivoted by one end to the car, a cutting blade or scraper secured to the other ends of said beams and adapted to be swung outward of the side of the car, means for swinging the beams transversely of the cars to change the position of said cutting blade, and rollers supporting the swinging ends of said beams MITCHELL PELTIER.

Witnesses:

C. T. SrUReEoN, SOHUYLER DURYEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

